Review: Otterbox Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Storm 9530

Recently much to my surprise and pleasure the postman dropped me off a small brown package.  “What could it be?”  I thought to my self. The first thing I noticed was the weight of the package.  The little brown box was extremely light almost like nothing was in it at all.  “Did some one ship me an empty box” I wondered.  With closer examination of the small package I couldn’t help but notice this package was from Otter Products LLC.  It would seem our good friends over at Otterbox had sent me a free sample case to review.

Which case you ask?  Well it was the Otterbox Commuter case for the BlackBerry Storm 9530.   Now I personally love Otterbox cases, I have had (and still do) own two Otterbox Defender cases for my Storm, the first generation Defender case and then later on the revised version of the Defender series.  Both are great cases in fact I would say they’re the best cases I have ever had for any phone period.   My only complaint was that the two cases where pretty bulky and quite heavy.  That is where the Commuter series comes into play, these cases are a hybrid of sorts in between an Impact series skin and a Defender series case.  They are meant to give you some of the protection features of the hard shelled Defender series but with the slim non-bulky profile of the Impact series skins.

What’s in the box: 1 silicone skin, 1 polycarbonate shell, 1 screen protector, 1 installation card, 1 small strip of instructions on installing the screen protector and last but not least a small cleaning cloth.

The first thing I noticed about the Commuter series case was how light it was, the whole thing (silicone case and polycarbonate shell) weighs about the same as most regular silicone cases/skins.  Also the way it fits in your hand is just amazing, the poly shell covers most of the case lets it slide around in your hand much easier verses the silicone covering over the poly shell like in the Defender series.

Now as an owner of the Defender series cases, I can say that my sense of security created by the excellent build quality and protection of the Defender case is somewhat shaken.  Maybe build quality was the wrong phrase to use, because the quality of this case is every bit as good if not better then the Defender series.  However the case does give a little in the protection department.  For example the Defender series case has paper filters over both the speaker phone/speaker and head set speaker, this case does not.  The Defender series case also has a screen protector built into the case for both main screen and the camera.  Now the lack of built in screen protector is made up for with a separate regular stick on screen protector.  Me personally I hate those kinds of screen protectors only because I am horrible at applying them, and 9 times out of 10 I will end up with hair under the film or bubbles.  This time was no different as you can see in the pics but with the BlackBerry Storm’s scratch proof glass you can choose not to install it at all.  The lack of paper filters and camera lens protection had me a bit worried.   However your camera sits recessed in the case providing it with pretty good protection any ways same goes for both speakers.

The biggest reason I was looking forward to reviewing this case was because yes the Defender series is great and  they provide great protection but it doesn’t fit well in my pocket.  The commuter case accomplishes this with style, protection and class.  Another thing you might want to take note to is the price, it’s nearly half the price of a Defender series case, and yet it has the same great build quality as its more expensive sibling.  In my opinion the commuter case has a higher quality than most cases in the same price range.

I have grown to love Otterbox BlackBerry cases and this is one is no different. Otterbox has hit the nail on the head with features and quality products that I have come to depend on everyday.

BerryReporter Rating:

Purchase the Otterbox Commuter Case for the BlackBerry Storm 9530